HyeOctane

Taking Grassroots Activism to the Next Level

Turkey Lets Livingston Go

April 4th, 2008 by

livingston1.jpgThe longstanding service of former Congressman Bob Livingston and his Livingston Group lobbying firm to the Republic of Turkey has finally come to an end.

Livingston, who served in Congress from 1977-1999 before resigning amid an extramarital affair scandal, has been one of Turkey’s most well-payed and loyal agents in the United States.  Over the years he has received millions of dollars from the Turkish government in return for his work to deny the Armenian Genocide in the halls of Congress.

“We have enjoyed a wonderful relationship for eight years, we’ve had a lot of legislative victories together, and we wish the Turkish people lots of continued success and happiness in the future,” Livingston said in a statement to The Hill.

It seems that Turkey’s “Super Lobbyist” simply no longer met the mark for Ankara’s expectations when it comes to preventing American officials from recognizing a clear historical fact.  Instead, Turkey is now enlisting the services of former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and former Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), both of whom are lobbyists for Turkey with DLA Piper. 

Although anti-genocide activists surely welcome Livingston’s departure from the Turkish payroll, the problem of former public officials selling themselves to the highest bidder continues to hamper American democracy.  In this sense, the struggle to recognize the Armenian Genocide is part and parcel of the effort to loosen the grip of K Street lobbyists over our political process.
 

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 1:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 response about “Turkey Lets Livingston Go”

  1. Steve Shokhkomyan said:

    I’m glad we have yet another opposition out of the way for Armenians to lobby and move forward with Genocide’s recognition worldwide. However, Mr. Livingston’s spot will not be left empty (like the article suggests) and will soon be filled with yet another subject who’s willing to sell their moral belief for the sum of money they’ll collect to support an unlawful idea which otherwise would prohibit their support.

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